Loans to teachers for further study at Business School of Excellence
Helga Busing-Volschenk (left), Chief Operations Officer of the Business School of Excellence in Namibia and Ester Kali, Executive: Retail and Business Banking at FNB during the signing of the agreement (Photograph by Hilma Hashange)
The aim of the partnership is to allow teachers to upgrade their qualifications through affordable interest rates offered by FNB and is effective as of 1 August 2013.
The shortage of qualified teachers has led to the Ministry of Education to advertise approximately 2000 teaching posts for 2014.
“Whether it is new applicants or teachers moving, it remains a big challenge for the Ministry of Education to recruit qualified teachers and we at Business School of Excellence aim to assist the ministry in making sure that teachers are qualified and are able to further their studies,” said Helga Busing-Volschenk, Chief Operations Officer of the school, during the signing of the agreement this week. She added that many teachers are unable to afford tuition fees to upgrade their qualifications hence the agreement with FNB which is willing to assit the teachers in this regard.
Elaborating on the agreement, Busing-Volschenk said that the partnership will allow the students enrolled at the Business School of Excellence to receive a preferential interest rate for their studies which will be directly deducted from their salaries through the Avril Payment solution system. The students will not have to worry about the repayment hassles such as debit orders or monthly deposits and they do not have to be existing FNB clients in order to qualify for the student loans.
“Our collaboration with FNB makes funding for the teachers more accessible with preferred lower interest rates on the student loans and easy repayment methods,” she said.
Speaking at the same occasion, Ester Kali, Executive: Retail and Business Banking at FNB Namibia explained the process of qualifying for the student loans: “The Business School of Excellence will obtain all relevant information from students and FNB will assess the application after which finance will be granted. FNB will also monitor and maintain the accounts which will include repayment.”
The Business School of Excellence consistently post pass rates of almost 90%. It operates educational centres in Windhoek, Ogwediva, Katima Mulilo and Swakopmund and plans to expand to other towns such as Walvis Bay, Otjiwarongo, Gobabis and Outapi.
